Stacking cans.



. E. JONES, JR.

STACKING CANS.

APPLICATION man me. 22. 1915.

Patented Oct. 12,.

WHITFIELD E. JONES, JR., OF ETNA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR T PITTSBURGH CAN COMPANY, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

s'racxmc cans.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 12, 1915.

Application filed January 22, 1915'. Serial No. 3,742.

-gheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Stacking Cans; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

The present invention relates to new and useful improvements in clips,-and has par-' ticular reference to a device of this character which may be employed in packing buckets, cans and similar containers for shipment or storage.

In packing cans, buckets and similar containers of a frustum-conical shape for storage or shipment it is at present customary to nest the containers within each other in lots of a half dozen or dozen. In practice it has been found that the nesting ofv the containers is open to a very serious objection which is the fact that the containers are in a majority of instances wedged to- I placing the containers lightly within each other so that there will be no severe binding when articles are packed, it has been found that the jarring and shocks to which they are subjected while in transit or while being handledis suflicient to cause this objectionable sticking orbinding of the 'containers.

Recognizing the fact that the only prac' tical method of packing containers for shipment is to nest them within each other in lots so that the maximum number may beshipped within a given space, I have in mind as' the principal object of my present invention the provision of a clip which may be successfully employed in preventing the binding of the containers when they are so nested.

Another obJect of my invention has been to provide a clip which is relatively simple in design so that it may be stamped from a sheet metal blank at a relatively low'manufacturing cost.

The above, and other incidental objects of a similar nature which will be hereinafter more specifically treated, are accomplished by such means as are illustrated in the accompanying drawing, described in the followlng specification and then more particularly polntedout in the claims, which are appended hereto and form a part of this application,

With reference to the drawings wherein there has been illustrated the preferred embodlment of the invention as it is reduced to practice, and throughout the several views of which slmilar reference numerals designate corresponding parts Figure l is a sectional view of a number of cans nested together and having my invention applied thereto; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of one" of the clips employed; Fig. 3 is another view of the clip.

The nesting clip which forms the subject matter of my present invention is best shown 1n detail in Fig. 2, and for this reason reference will first be hadto this figure. As shown the clip is formed from asingle blank of relatively light sheet metal of rectangular form. The blank from which the clip is formed is stamped to produce the fiat body portlon 10 and the terminal ears or lips 11 and 12. The member 12 which is adaptedto embrace or engage the upper edge of a can" is of slightly greater length than the lip 11 and extends at a less acute angle to the body member 10 thandoes the. member 11. At'the ]1mct1on of :each' of the members 11 and 12 with the body member 10, a rib or bead is 1 formed as indicated at 14 and-13. These .serves a further and important function, as

will be presentlyexplained.

As has been previously set forth my clip has been designed particularly for use in packing containers of a frusto-conical or tapering side-Wall type and is employed in preventing the contalners from wedging or binding within each other. Prior to the packing of the containers, to thefirst member designated in Fig. 1 by the numeral A' is applied one of the clips. The lip member 12 of the; clip is engaged with the bead 15 Q a msaeeo at the upper edge of the member A so that ther inward movement in the member A.

Thebody portion 10 of the clip is made of such length that the bottom wall of the container B will be stopped before it reaches that point in the height of the container A and which the internal diameter of the memher A is equal to the diameter of the bot tom wal1'16. It will thus be seen that the lip 11 of the clip prevents the second container B from wedging in the first container A. At. this point the second function of the rib or band 13 will now beapparent, for it will be seen'that this member serves to s ace the body portion 10 of the clip away rom the side wall of the container A, so that in case the member B is pushed into the memher A with too great force there will be binding contact only betweena portion of the periphery of the bottom wall 16 of the member B and the rib 13 with the side wall of they container A. Thus, even though the member B should be forced unduly into the member A, the area of the member B, which is in contact or engagement with the inner face-of the side wall of the member A, will be relatively small, and the force necessary to separate the containers will be relatively slight.

It will now of course be understood that any desired number of containers may be nested within each other for shipment, and that a clip is employed in connection with each container for preventing the next adjacent container from being wedged therein. What is-claimed is: v a j 1. The combination with a plurality of similar frusto-conical containers nestedone within the other, of means for supporting said containers in their nested condition and preventing them from becoming wedged one within the other, said means comprising a plurality of clips, each clipbeing bent over at one end to engage the mouth of a container and at the other end. to engage the base of the container-next'above it, and said clips being of a length to support the containers just above wedging point.

2. The combination with a plurality oi similar frusto-conical containers nested one 'within the other, of clips for maintaining said containers loosely in their nested condition, each of said clips comprising a member bent at one end to engage over the top of acontainer and at the other end to engage under the base of the container next above it, and having a projectin .portion at one end extending backwardly rom the hook to engage against the side of the container'opposite to said projection. I

3. The combination with a plurality of containers disposed in nested-relation, of

clips for maintaining the containers looselyin their nested condltion, each of said clips comprising a member bent at one end to engage over the top of one container and be'nt at the other end to engage under the bottom of the next container above it, and having outwardly extendingpro'ections at the ends extending backwardly rom the hook for engaging against the sides of the containers opposite to said projections. 4:. A clip of the character described forme from a single blank of sheet metal, and including a flat body portion, terminally located integral lips extended at acute angles to the body portion, and ribs formed at the junction of each of said ribs with the body portion by striking the metal outwardly.

In testimony whereof, I the said WHIT- fitrnrg E. Jones, Jr., have hereunto set my wnrrrin in E. Jones, JR.

Witnesses:

J. N. Coons, C. L. LANnoN. 

